1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of medical equipment. More particularly it concerns a connector system for coupling laser output to medical or surgical peripheral devices and the peripherals themselves.
2. Reference to Related Application
This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 525,833 filed on Aug. 22, 1983 and to issue on Apr. 8, 1986. That application is incorporated herein by reference.
3. Description of Prior Art
Surgical techniques employing laser radiation have been in development for several years. Laser beam manipulator devices have been employed as surgical scalpels as illustrated in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,113 of Sharon et al; European Patent Application Ser. No. 75,912 (Published Apr. 6, 1983) of Hitachi, Ltd.; and West German Pat. No. 3105297 of Asaki Kogaku Kogyo. Laser devices can also be used to effect blood coagulation or to cauterize as shown by, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,835 of Koester et al. Laser surgical devices may be macroscale or may be sized for operation under a microscope to perform microsurgery as is described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,814 of Togo. As emphasized in related application U.S. Ser. No. 525,833, these various techniques have created a need for medical laser systems having varied power levels and peripheral attachments, so that a single laser may be used in performing these various techniques.
It is necessary to precisely control the amount of laser radiation delivered to biological tissues in photo-surgical procedures. The appropriate amount of radiation is known to vary with the technique employed. Systems have been developed to control the intensity and duration of the laser radiation energy applied to the treated tissues. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,694 of Isakov et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,853 of Smith; as well as previously noted U.S. Ser. No. 525,833 and EPO Patent Application No. 75,912. Systems such as the Smith system rely on exposure control devices such as shutters and laser power level control circuits.
The difficulty of controlling the amount of laser radiation delivered to tissues is aggravated when various peripheral devices, having varying optical properties and power requirements, are used in the same system. It is essential that the laser output be correctly matched to the peripheral device. Preferably, the laser and peripheral should be connected in a way which absolutely precludes a mismatch.
U.S. Ser. No. 525,833 shows a laser system in which each of variety of peripheral devices had a "signature" which could be read by the remainder of the laser system to identify the peripheral device and distinguish it from all other such devices. Such peripheral devices are now claimed. In the preferred embodiment shown by that patent application the signature was created by preselected electrical resistances built into the peripheral device itself which were read by the control circuit of the laser system.
While this prior preferred embodiment has proven very effective, it has one drawback. There are applications where it is convenient to have the peripheral devices in a disposable form. Since the resistors are located in the peripheral device, they would be discarded with it. It is expensive and at times difficult to obtain signature resistors of such precision that they give a proper and unabiguous signature with every replaceable peripheral.
This invention, in addition to these earlier-disclosed signature peripherals, provides improved peripherals and a coupling system for the laser which provides an unambiguous signature and facilitates use of disposable peripheral laser surgical implements.